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Tony Masters (Earth-616)
__TOC__ Real Name: Real name unknown Nicknames Barney Toastmaster Known Aliases: Tony Masters, Captain America Other Current Aliases: None known Status Occupation: Mercenary, trainer/school operator Legal Status: Citizen of the United States with no known criminal record Identity: Secret Marital Status: Single Group Affiliation: Member of Agency X, Member of the Thunderbolts (Alternate Universe), formerly Frightful Four Base of Operations: Mobile Origin Taskmaster discovered his abilities at a young age and decided to live a life of crime. Place of Birth: Bronx, New York Known Relatives: None First Appearance: Avengers Vol. 1 #195 (May 1980), Hawkeye: Earth's Mightiset Marksman #1 (with powers), Taskmaster #1 (with new costume) History Taskmaster possesses an innate ability known as "photographic reflexes", which enable him to watch another person's physical movements and duplicate them without practice, no matter how complex. This ability is only limited by the fact that he does not have superhuman strength or other superhuman attributes. He is a naturally gifted athlete who has trained himself to superb physical condition. He has committed the following fighting styles to memory (in addition to many others): Captain America, Black Panther, Daredevil, Elektra, Hawkeye, Punisher, Tigra, USAgent, Spider-Man and Wolverine. He has trained his body to be in all around peak physical condition and engages in intensive regular exercise. His strength, endurance, stamina, reflexes, and agility or on the level of an Olympic athlete. He is nearly the physical equal of Captain America. In addition to his ability to copy the fighting techniques of others he has mastered hundreds of forms of unarmed combat and has created some of his own original techniques as well. The Taskmaster is skilled in the use of all conventional weaponry. He is an unerring marksman as a result of the skills of various characters he has committed to memory. These skills include all present day and many historical martial arts, boxing, wrestling, swordsmanship, archery, marksmanship, gymnastics, aerial acrobatics and sleight of hand. The Taskmaster had his scientists duplicate versions of a variety of weapons used by Marvel characters which he can use with nearly as great facility as their respective owners. He has a copy of Daredevil's multipurpose billy club, Hawkeye's trick arrows and bow, the Black Knight's sword, and a shield designed like Captain America's (but it is not indestructible; it's only an osmium alloy). He also sometimes carries a .45 caliber Colt automatic, which he can use in the style of the Punisher. The Taskmaster's character was considerably revised in a 2002 UDON-created miniseries. Most visibly, he now wears a costume apparently modeled after tactical body armor, replacing his pirate-themed garb. The Taskmaster also ceased carrying an arsenal of duplicate weapons. Instead, his armament consists primarily of a pair of semi-automatic handguns and a katana (which he wields using the fighting style of the Silver Samurai). The Taskmaster also carries a prototype wrist-mounted device, stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., which can spontaneously create simple shapes out of solid energy, saving him the trouble of weighing himself down with many weapons. Thus far, he has used the device to create duplicates of Captain America's shield and Spider-Man's webbing. In addition, the Taskmaster has revealed new abilities. First, given observation and practice (with the aid of a voice-match recognizing device) he can duplicate the voices of others. He was also given photographic memory during the revision. More importantly, after watching video footage of fights filmed in double-time, he learned how to perform actions in double-time, as well. Since the Taskmaster does not have a superhuman physique, he can only use this ability to provide short bursts of superhuman speed lasting a few seconds, or he risks seriously injuring himself. Taskmaster has come to blows with Deadpool a number of times, but the two became friends when Taskmaster started dating Sandi Brandenburg, who had been Deadpool's Personal Assistant when he ran DP Inc. Both were employed by Agency X at the same time. Taskmaster was recently been hired to take out Moon Knight. He has also been seen as part of the Thunderbolts detainees Characteristics Height: 6'2" Weight: 220 lbs (100 kg) Eyes: Unknown Hair: Brown Unusual Features: None Powers Known Powers: Taskmaster briefly had the powers to duplicate powers of others he has seen, but the experiment was not completed. Known Abilities: Taskmaster has a photographic memory and photographic reflexes. Taskmaster can duplicate almost anything he sees as long as it is not a superhuman skill. The first thing he learned was how to twirl a lasso after seeing it on television. His body automatically adjusts to perform the task. He can also perform at enhanced speed by watching the sequence fast-forwarded. Strength Level: Normal human male with intensive regular exercise. Miscellaneous Equipment: Taskmaster often keeps DVDs and tapes of individuals he wishes to mimic. Transportation: Customized Quinjet, van. Weapons: Taskmaster uses a number of weapons, often determined by whose abilities he is using. - Known weapons include: Energy Shield, Energy Claws, Katana, Bow & Arrows, Sword, Broadsword, Pair of .45s, Rope, steel round shield and Billy Club. Fighting Styles Studied Characters: Taskmaster learned personal styles of these individuals from watching videos or from combat: Ant Man, Batroc, Black Widow, Boomerang, Bushwacker, Blacklash, Black Knight , Black Panther, Captain America, Genis-Vell, Conquest, Daredevil, Deadpool, Elektra, Falcon, Fatale, Firestar, Hawkeye, Huntress , Iron Fist, Justice, Libra, Machete, Oddball, Puma, Punisher, Razorfist, Shockwave, Silverclaw, Silver Samurai, Spider-Man, Shatterhead, Swordsman, Tigra, Tumbler, US Agent, Warbird, Wolverine and Zaran. Notes * Taskmaster is unable to copy the moves of Alex Hayden for unknown reasons. Trivia * Recommended Readings * AGENT-X #1-9, #13-15 * AVENGERS (v1) #195, 196, 233, (v3) #26, * CAPTAIN AMERICA (v1) #334, (v3) #44, * HAWKEYE: EARTH'S MIGHTEST MARKSMAN #1, * JLA/AVENGERS #4 (Battles Batman), * TASKMASTER #1-4 Related Articles * Taskmaster's Character Gallery * Taskmaster's Fighting Styles Character Gallery External Links * TaskmasterSite.Com - The only comprehnsive website on the internet dedicated to Marvel's Taskmaster! References * ---- Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Bad Characters Category:Secret Identity Category:Single Characters Category:American Category:Modern Age Category:Brown Hair Category:Frightful Four members Category:Copy Edit